Council OKs College Parking Lot at Marymount Palos Verdes

The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council has given Marymount Palos Verdes College approval to build an 87-car parking lot.

The council said the lot must be completed by the beginning of school next fall, parking must be restricted to weekday activities and a wall must be built to separate the campus from residences on San Ramon Drive. In addition, the council insisted that the junior college cap its enrollment at 650 students.

The council also ordered a review of a conditional use permit that has permitted the college to operate since 1975. In a related action, the council established permit parking on San Ramon Drive, where residents have complained about student parking. Permits will be required for parking on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Residents of the street will be required to purchase a 60-cent sticker every three years for each of their vehicles, according to Mary Knight, who lives on San Ramon. Guest passes will cost residents 5 cents each.

The college has caused increased concern to neighbors since its move into the vacated buildings of a former girls' school on Palos Verdes Drive East 10 years ago. Area residents, who claim they have had to contend with Marymount noise, traffic and litter, filed a petition with the city claiming that the college has violated its permit conditions and asking that it be declared a nuisance.

"I'm hopeful," said Knight after the council meeting Tuesday. "But you don't know the level of compliance."

Dr. Thomas Wood, Marymount Palos Verdes College president, said he also is "inclined to optimism. I think the council was very even-handed."

But the cap on enrollment, he said, "will become an issue, I'm quite sure.'